Investing for Beginners

Interest is the fee paid on a borrowed asset. This may be the money earned by the funds deposited into a savings account. A savings account typically pays a constant rate set by the financial...

Investments can be baffling, and annuities are no exception. Annuities are a life insurance product, but rather than paying out upon your death, an annuity begins to pay out when the owner of the...

Capital gains taxes are taxes imposed on profit earned from selling an asset that has appreciated over time, such as real estate and stock investments. The tax rate varies based on income and...

Savings accounts are a popular way to save money and are often the first step a person takes in that direction. As a general rule, savings accounts have low yields compared to other investment...

A Series I Savings Bond (or I bond for short) is an inflation-linked bond sold by the U.S. Treasury. Anyone with a Social Security number can invest in I bonds. I bonds come in paper form...

Inflation is the rise in the prices of goods and services over a period of time. This means that with inflation, the purchasing power of a dollar a year ago is less than it is today. As a result,...

In the financial world, a certificate of deposit (CD) is a certificate from a bank stating that the person named on it has a specified sum of money on deposit for a given period of time at a fixed...

There are dozens of different acronyms and terms used in financial indexes. One of the most critical and commonly seen of these is the LIBOR rate. Most people have some interaction with the LIBOR...

A certificate of deposit is a way to take your hard-earned money and earn more money on it through interest. CD's don't mature over night, but in a few years you can make some extra cash to help...

An annuity is a type of savings product that accumulates interest for a set period of time and then provides income in the form of one payment or multiple small payments. Fixed annuities and fixed...

The Fed rate is the interest rate that banks charge to lend money to each other. The Federal Reserve chairman changes this rate to influence the direction of the U.S. economy.

The annualized rate of return is used by analysts and investors to compare the rates of return between investments with different maturity lengths. For example, just by looking at the overall...

When you are considering an investment, you want to know what rate of return an investment will give you. Some investments promise a fixed cost and a fixed payment at some point in the future. For...

Bonds are debt instruments issued by the U.S. government, government agencies, municipal governments and corporations. These entities use the proceeds of bond sales to fund operations. For...

You have likely heard that stocks and bonds are your keys to financial success. But you may not have any idea what they actually are and why they are so well-regarded. Here is a brief explanation...

Accrued interest refers to the amount of unpaid interest that has accumulated on an account even though is hasn't been paid out yet. For example, if you have a certificate of deposit that pays...

Banks and credit unions offer CDs (certificates of deposit) to get and keep customers. CDs are insured by the FDIC or the National Credit Union Authority and pay higher rates of interest than...

CD stands for certificate of deposit. These are issued by banks and offer several advantages for investors such as guaranteed returns, increased insurance, payment options, variable term lengths...

Annuities are an investment tool used to guarantee income over a given period of time after an initial investment. These payments can last any number of years and individual payments can be made...

Indexed annuities are a special category of annuities that follow market indexes to determine the rate of return. A derivative of a variable annuity, this investment vehicle has become popular...

Dividends are income paid to owners of certain investments. Dividends are not interest. Interest is paid on debt securities or bank deposits. Dividends are listed separately and may be taxed...

The reinvestment rate measures the percentage of a company's net income that is reinvested in the business. The reinvestment rate is of particular concern to financial managers, since investors...

Mortgages on homes can be at either a fixed rate or variable rate. Fixed-rate mortgages are easier to analyze because the rate of interest on the mortgage is fixed at the time the contract is...

Currency exchange is pretty straightforward. Here are some things to know when exchanging currency

Every day, individuals and institutions need to swap one country's currency for another. The transaction may be made by a tourist so she can go shopping while on vacation or involve the transfer...

The price increase of goods and services in an economy is known as inflation. The rate of inflation can stimulate growth or cause stagnation in a region or country. High rates of inflation can...

Annuities are great investments that offer tax-deferred growth for investors seeking to save toward retirement. Annuities must be held until age 59 1/2 to not have distributions penalized. They...

Most of us all want the most bang for our buck if it is possible to do. This always is very true for a savings account. You want to get that possible rate that is way up there so you can earn the...

Once you reach a certain point in your savings, you want to figure out how much they'll be worth in the future. This article will give you the formula to make that calculation.

The dividend rate or yield of a stock can be an important determinant in the worth of an investment. To properly assess the dividend, you need to not only compute using basic math to determine...

Calculating interest-only payments is a relatively simple calculation. The question is whether the interest payments occur on a regular or irregular basis. Interest on the loan is calculated...

The savings rate is the percentage of disposable income saved by the average person in a population (e.g., in a nation or state). The savings rate can have significant effects on the health of the...

Money market deposit accounts (MMDAs) are well-known for their higher interest rates. However, not all MMDA interest rates are created equal. Many people are unaware of this fact because they...

Does the very thought of making financial calculations make you shudder? Don't worry, here I will show you the Rule of 72, a simple mathematical formula that allows you to determine how long it...

Banks pay you money for the use of your money. That's the idea behind savings accounts and certificates of deposit. How much your money earns is the interest rate. A simple interest rate is just...

Whether markets are turning south or investors are reaching for retirement income, low-risk investments are absolutely essential for anyone with a desire to preserve their short-term assets. There...

Financial investors use the term "average growth rate" for a calculation that determines the best investment over time given present value, future value, and number of periods per year...

Most types of corporate bonds only differ in the rate of return and the duration of the bond. Find out how the credit rating of the company that issues the bond affects the rate of return with...

The internal rate of return is a tool that allows a company to make a logical decision about whether to undertake an investment project or place their cash in a different form of risk. The process...

The annual percentage rate is the bottom-line number indicating the cost of borrowing money or what is paid for investing money. It is most commonly used to refer to the interest rate charged by...

AGR is an acronym for Annual Growth Rate, a term used when measuring growth and activity for an investment over a period of time. As with all investment and portfolio summary reports, the rate of...

Certificates of Deposit are not known to be incredibly lucrative investments, but investors do seek to realize some return on their capital even with this low risk vehicle. Therefore, a crucial...

While the term "CD" may most commonly be used to refer to compact discs, it is also short for an important investing tool known as a certificate of deposit. Certificates of deposit, sold by banks...

There are several different types of annuities available for investors. Each one has different features and meets different investment needs. The two major types of annuities are fixed and...

Certificates of deposit, or CDs, are a good way for kids to start saving because there's very little risk involved. From the beginning, they know what they've put in, what they'll get back and how...